Last week I
scooted off to attend the Scotswoman of the Year
awards. This year’s winner is
Doctor Margo Whiteford – an amazing woman with
courage and a determination in bucketloads.
She suffers from
Spina Bifida but she took a medical degree and
become a senior doctor at Yorkhill hospital in
Glasgow. That would be enough for most of us
to contend with, but not Dr Whiteford, she's just as
well known for her efforts which have raised tens of
thousands of pounds for charity. She is an
incredible woman who I salute with humility.

Myself and
Anne McLaughlin MSP had a lovely time at the awards
in the grandeur of Glasgow City Chambers – a
fantastic building that was, quite clearly, not
built in a time of austerity like now. One of
the best speakers of the night was a Marie Curie
nurse who gave a very inspirational speech about the
care that Marie Curie provides, about how fulfilling
her job is, and how there is a lot to laugh about.
She reminded us that laughter and joy can be a
wonderful support to us all in our times of
weakness, when we’re down, when we’re struggling,
when life seems a burden rather than a privilege;
it’s a wonderful support for people who are ill and
for their families.

As you can
see in the photographs, I got to have a gab with
Barbara Rafferty
and Libby McArthur. I’m a fan of River City and it
was a treat to meet two of the stars of the show.
OK I’m also going to have to admit that Scarlett is
my favourite character! I grew up in
Easterhouse and there are a lot of characters in the
show that I identify with as typical – Glasgow folk
with all the associated banter.

Friday was a
day of constituency work before I shot off out to
another Burns Supper. For those who don’t
know, the SNP Burns Supper season stretches from the
middle of January to the middle of February – I fell
like I’ve got haggis coming out of my ears, but what
fun it’s been! This Burns Supper was in a barn
in Kinlochard – but not just any old barn. It
was built in the 1600s and was the meeting place of
the Clan Gregor so there are historical resonances
all over. I couldn’t help thinking that I may
have been standing on the very spot where Rob Roy McGregor might
have had his first dance or his first kiss.

A full day
in the constituency office was my Monday. With
Martha, my magnificent constituency assistant, off
on the sick I had to sort out all the mail that had
come into the office, try to get a few letters typed
and sort out a couple of issues for constituents.
It meant that I couldn’t be out and about as usual
and I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve made a
mess of Martha’s systems so I don’t doubt I’ll get
an earful when she gets back. I miss her
cheery support and I just wouldn’t be able to carry
on on my own for very long, so hurry back, Martha!

By Monday
night I was hoping for some down-time at home, just
relaxing. No such luck. My son needed my
help with finding information for a project for
school. “Ach well”, I thought, “maybe it’s
something interesting like Egypt or tropical wildlife” so
you can imagine how my heart sank when he told me
that it was the EU and the impact it has on our
day-to-day life. Straight back to politics…
Luckily, though, I know someone who knows a thing or
two about the EU and Alyn Smith MEP found himself on
the other end of the phone answering questions for a
school project. There’s a good project going
into school and me mightily relieved. Thanks
Alyn.

This week in Parliament
started for me on Tuesday morning at the Equal
Opportunities Committee where we discussed the
evidence and future plans of the Female Offender in
the Criminal Justice System Report, including our
approach to the debate which took place on Thursday
(should appear in the Official Report at 8am
tomorrow but you can read the committee OR here -
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/equal/or-10/eo10-0302.htm#Col1457
and the report should be posted on the Committee’s
homepage soon). The chamber debate was
excellent, highlighting exactly why short sentences
don’t work.

Excellent
news reached us in Parliament this week, too.
Florence and
Precious Mhango won their case and move onto the
next stage of judicial review. A great victory
for all the campaigners in Cranhill and another fine
example of the people taking a different view from
the negative one so recently exposed by the Guardian
newspaper and detailed in the motion I submitted in
Parliament:

S3M-05684 Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland)
(Scottish National Party): Alleged Discrimination
Against Asylum Seekers at UKBA—
That the Parliament expresses deep concern at
allegations by whistleblower Louise Perrott of a
culture at the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of hostility
and discrimination towards asylum seekers, openly
expressed anti-immigration and anti-asylum seeker
views and disbelief and humiliation of asylum
applicants; is further concerned that Ms Perrott was
able to make legally binding decisions on the
granting and refusal of asylum and on detention of
individuals and families after only five weeks’
training, and endorses the call of Keith Vaz MP,
chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs
Committee, for an immediate and full investigation
into the practices and cultures of management and
staff at the UKBA.

So it’s
recess now and I’ve managed to wangle two whole days
off – luxury, I tell you – so I may get out walking
a bit. I might actually see if I can find the
time to go and visit Billy Wolfe – I heard from
Linda Fabiani that he was in hospital, so I might
pop over and see if I can see him. That’s if I
can get past all the cards on Sunday, right enough!

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